Steve Andriole

So what did you like about 2008? What did you hate? Here’s my take: I hate spineless managers – especially when “executives” make incredibly stupid decisions. I realize that we all have jobs at stake but there’s a line that should not be crossed. My stupidity benchmark is a 1998 quote from a very senior […]

We need to change our minds about everything. Quick: check on the ages of those in the cockpits of your companies. How many are over the age of fifty? How many are older than 60? For every senior technology executive over the age of sixty, add 100 points; for every one between the ages of […]

I am writing this column while sitting in another really stupid meeting about technology issues that could be addressed in about ten minutes. We’ve set aside three hours for this discussion. I am losing my mind. So how do you vet ideas, kick-off projects, discuss compensation and re-organize? You go to meetings – and then […]

I am sick and tired of our focusing on the little things. Yes, there’s some training required to upgrade to Office 2007. Vista is a little different from XP – so let’s skip it. SAP’s modules are not as interoperable as we’d like them. Oracle’s database engine is not as friendly as it should be. […]

Stupid executives. Deranged CEOs. Greedy managers. They’re everywhere. How many personal agendas can we take? We all know what I’m talking about. It would be acceptable if this were just about mediocrity versus excellence, but it’s about much more than that. It’s about evil, self-serving mediocrity (or outright evil, self-serving incompetence). It’s about what the […]

Everyone complains about everything. Everyone says they prefer meritocracies to the political messes they find themselves cleaning up everyday. Really? How about performance-based compensation? Could you live with that? Not long ago I pitched a consulting project to a very large company that I knew had some huge problems with how they did technology. I […]

Last month I wrote: “Oracle, SAP and Microsoft really need to re-think their fee structures. On-demand applications, open source software and the growing repository of Web-based components will threaten existing software delivery models to the breaking point. Do the vendors really understand this – or are they in denial?” Let’s dig deeper. Let me tell […]

Comment on “What’s wrong with IT?” I’ve had it with our inability to get things done; our inability to acknowledge the real reasons why our field’s best practices get crippled the moment a meeting begins. Do we actually know what to do? Do we know how to optimize out IT investments? Of course we do. […]

We’re still in a recession. Our currency is still struggling. Inflation is worsening. Companies are worried. I addressed all this last month. This time I want to extend the discussion about where to put technology dollars and how to pitch a recessionary budget. Lots of technology gurus and pundits talk about the distinction between vitamin […]

We’re in a recession. Our currency is struggling. Inflation is back. Companies are worried. So what should we tell our bankers – the ones who control the IT budgets? The KISS principle – keep it simple, stupid – seems to always apply, but in the current environment it’s even more relevant. In a recent lunch […]